Head deep in the sand, the ostrich asked "What skills shortage?"

International accounting firm Deloitte released the results of an extensive employment and remuneration survey on 6 June 2007. The survey, known as the National Remuneration Guide, was conducted in February of this year, and confirmed that "81% of compani

Commenting on the report's key finding, Deloitte spokesperson Louise Marx revealed that: "76 percent of respondents said that they had experienced a scarcity of affirmative action candidates. While there is certainly an unemployment problem in this country, a survey like this shows that there is a lack of skilled people in specific fields. Most of these categories require a certain level of experience which many unemployed people do not have."

The survey results fly in the face of statements made by Commission for Employment Equity Chairperson, Jimmy Manyi earlier this month. Manyi dismissed claims of a serious skills shortage in South Africa as "urban legend".

Skilled persons leave South Africa by the thousands

In truth, skilled individuals have been leaving South Africa in their droves. Official statistics show that 841, 000 white South Africans left the country in the last ten years. We will steer away from the generalisation that 'white' emigrants are by definition skilled. However, we must accept that many of these individuals did carry valuable skills with them when they left. And we also note that the official 'exodus' figure is probably well short of the real number.

South Africa has long suffered from an exodus of medical specialists, doctors and nurses who flee for more lucrative pastures in Canada, New Zealand, Australia, the UK and the USA. The western world is hungry for such skills and welcomes professionals from South Africa and the rest of Africa with open arms.

A quick look at the job advertisements in South Africa's major weekend papers confirms this trend. Companies from the Middle East, the rest of Africa, and the west are hungry for South African engineering, accounting and medical skills and they are advertising huge pay packets to lure them.

Another quick flash of the 'race card'

Manyi contends the problem with unfilled positions has nothing to do with skill shortages, but is rather the result of senior 'white' managers failing to promote and appoint black people to vacant positions. He bases his comments on the observation that there are many 'skilled' previously disadvantaged South Africans who are presently unemployed.

We believe Manyi fails to appreciate the significance of the term 'skill' in the context of the situation that exists in South Africa today. While Manyi appears to believe that holding a degree qualifies an individual as skilled, the reality is far different.

The word 'skill' is a noun which indicates expertness, or an expert knowledge. A skill is thus viewed as a craft or an accomplishment. By this definition, a nurse or doctor is skilled. An engineer, architect, lawyer or accountant can also be said to be skilled and artisans such as boilermakers, plumbers and electricians too. But graduates in languages or arts are not (outside the narrowest definition) skilled and cannot satisfy the demand which currently exists in the country.

Regardless of Manyi's wishes, it will never be possible to utilise Bachelor of Arts students to plug the holes that exist in the medical, engineering and financial sectors... They will have to study for four years and complete the required articles and internships first.

Time to move forward

There is no magic trick that will be able to address South Africa's skills shortage in the short term. To remedy the years of neglect will require dedication from both government and private industry.

Government should focus on getting primary education right. They should accept the challenge of ensuring that all of South Africa's children have proper access to exceptional education. They should encourage participation in mathematics and science and ensure that the country's tertiary institutions have an abundance of top candidates to fill available spaces every year.

Large business in South Africa should support the professionals who are active in their areas. An example of this: "Discovery, one of South Africa's leading financial services company, has made the first awards in its R200 million, 10-year programme that funds specialist training for medical graduates and finances academic and research centres that are bolstering South Africa's health sector human resources."

In addition, the private sector should provide more access to career planning for school goers in the form of road shows and exhibitions. Big corporations should identify shortages in time, and plan to fill these positions through bursaries and study incentives at an early stage. It takes between four and seven years to provide key skills and that is how far ahead local companies should be looking when determining their skills requirements.

Editor's thoughts:
South Africa has enough on its plate without having to add the burden of convincing people in positions of power to acknowledge problems. Do you have any innovative ideas that will help government and industry plan to meet skills shortages in the years ahead? Send your comments to gareth@fanews.co.za.